Declining Approval Rates for Occupational Suicide Cases... Inconsistent Judgments Across Regions

This Year’s Suicide Industrial Accident Approval Rate 34%... 31%P Decrease from 4 Years Ago
Lack of Consistency in Judgments... "Suicide Should Be Recognized as a Social Issue"

Despite around 400 people committing suicide each year due to workplace harassment and other factors, the approval rate for industrial accident (sanjae) claims is decreasing. The main cause is identified as the lack of consistency in the judgments made by the Occupational Disease Judgment Committee (Judgment Committee), which determines whether suicides and other work-related illnesses qualify as industrial accidents.

According to data received by Rep. Kim Tae-seon of the Democratic Party from the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service, the number of industrial accident claims and approvals for suicides from January to September this year were 80 and 27 cases, respectively. The approval rate for suicide-related industrial accidents this year was 34%, showing a declining trend every year. The approval rate was 65% in 2020, but dropped to 52% in 2021, 45% in 2022, and 41% in 2023.

The approval rates for suicide-related industrial accidents vary greatly by regional Judgment Committees. In 2021, the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service expanded the number of Judgment Committees from one to eight to expedite industrial accident judgments, but the regional committees outside the metropolitan area showed a more conservative stance on suicide cases compared to those in the capital region. From January to September this year, the approval rate for suicide-related industrial accidents was 73% at the Seoul Northern Judgment Committee, but only 43% in Seoul Southern, 30% in Gyeongin, 24% in Daejeon, 20% in Gyeongnam, 18% in Gwangju, and 11% in Busan. The Daegu Judgment Committee conducted two suicide-related industrial accident judgments this year and did not recognize either case.

The Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service explained that through investigations, they determined that the suicides occurred due to reasons unrelated to work. However, Kwon Dong-hee, a certified labor attorney at the Work and People Law Office, pointed out, "Since the victim in suicide cases is deceased, the judgments are truly complex and require a high level of understanding and legal reasoning from the committee members," adding, "It can be concluded that the regional Judgment Committees, which have been dispersed, lack a certain level of understanding of the work involved."

There are criticisms that the Judgment Committees cannot focus on suicide-related industrial accident judgments due to the large number of cases they handle. The number of industrial accident judgments by the committees has increased annually: 16,441 cases in 2021, 17,222 in 2022, and 18,523 in 2023. Although the number of committee staff increased significantly from 80 in 2021 to 104 in 2022, it has stagnated at 111 in 2023 and 116 this year. Last year, one staff member handled approximately 167 industrial accident cases annually. Attorney Kwon said, "As the total number of occupational disease cases increases, the processing time for industrial accident claims is getting longer," adding, "Cases are piling up, but the system to respond is insufficient, so the committees, hospitals, and workers who apply for industrial accident claims are all struggling."

Workplace harassment and other factors are already identified as major causes of suicide, but it remains difficult for these issues to come to light. According to the National Police Agency, the number of suicides due to workplace or job-related problems was 496 in 2021, 404 in 2022, and 395 in 2023. The 85 suicide-related industrial accident claims received by the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service last year show a discrepancy with the police statistics.

To avoid attributing the causes of suicide solely to individuals, there are calls to invest in manpower and other resources to encourage active investigations by the Judgment Committees. Rep. Kim said, "The low approval rate for industrial accidents undermines the fairness of the new industrial accident administration and increases the suffering of bereaved families," adding, "Efforts are needed to recognize suicide not as an individual problem but as a social issue and to seek solutions accordingly."